A/N: sorry I took so long on this chapter… I promise it will never happen again! Lol
Legacy: chapter 16
A white van slowly came to a stop in the ground level garage of the NSA field headquarters. Keith Sheppard waited impatiently, the thrill of the hunt culminating within him, yet his features betrayed none of his anxiety.
This is it, he thought, Allie will be mine in no time.
As the driver killed the engine, the back doors of the van swung open. Two men wearing all black, including black ski masks, emerged and took up their positions beside each door. Keith started walking toward the van. Each footfall echoing confidence and his cold sense of calculation.
"C was no problem, sir," one of the masked men said as Keith came around the door.
"Good." Keith peered inside at the young girl, drugged and laying in a heap in the back of the van. "The kids family?"
"We tore them up bad, sir. Just like you said." the man on the opposite side removed his mask. "Made it look like a forced entry kidnapping."
"Good." Keith reached up for a grip and hauled himself into the van, the two men followed.
"The fibers?" Keith asked.
"Yes sir," the unmasked man reached into a Velcro-flapped pocket and produced an empty plastic bag, handed it to Keith.
"The police will be looking for a deranged pedophile," Keith looked down at the girl, "those fibers should put them on a very cold trail." he bent down close and brushed the hair out of the girls face.
"Jessica Balderas…" Keith mouthed the girl's name
"It's a shame, sir." the masked man spoke again.
"What would that be?" Keith cast a questioning glance at him.
"Well, that we have to kill her after this is all over."
Keith glanced back down at Jessica, sleeping so peacefully, like an angel, "yes, it is." then he raised his head, a wild gleam in his eyes, "but no one ever cries for the cheese in the mouse trap now do they?"
"N--no sir."
The radio on Keith's belt started squawking, he stood and walked to the back of the van, pulled the radio off as he jumped out and brought it up to his face. "Sheppard…"
The voice came back under static but it was still clear, "this is B team leader, B is in the van."
"Excellent! Hurry…" Keith jammed the radio back into its holder on his belt and turned toward the other men, "get her to the location, I'll meet you there."
The two men quickly obeyed, jumping back inside and pulling the doors closed as the engine roared back to life and the van sped out of the garage.
Keith stared out the open garage for a moment as the sound of the speeding van faded. "Two down, one to go." he mumbled, then turned toward a silver car parked on the far side. Tyler is as good as caught; so I guess that should be three down, one very valuable hybrid to go.
A stiff, cool breeze blew down the street and along the sidewalk giving Allie a chill as it passed. She folded her arms in front of her in a futile attempt to stay warm. Tyler glanced over.
"Are you cold?" he asked.
Allie concentrated on him for a moment until his words sank in, then: "oh, no… just a little."
"Yeah, strange weather."
The glimpses of blue behind the gray clouds drew Allie's attention skyward for a moment, "I don't remember it getting this cold this time of year." she said, then looked back to Tyler who grinned:
"You lived in Canada for five years, this should be warm to you."
Allie's cheeks turned a light shade of red, from embarrassment or the cold wind, Tyler could not tell. Although he knew no reason why she should be embarrassed by anything he said.
"Yeah…" Allie sighed, shifting her gaze to the sidewalk.
I just need to ask her, Tyler thought, the worst thing she could do is say no…
Tyler opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Instead, he found himself studying the concrete just as intently as Allie.
Why is it so hard to talk to her? Tyler wondered. There was something special about this girl, no doubt, but it had Tyler stumped over his own emotions. He was drawn to her every nuance. Truly, the worst thing she could do is say no. But Tyler realized that he was afraid to ask because he didn't want her to say no.
Allie glanced up suddenly, "are you guys doing anything later on?"
Her words caught Tyler in mid-thought, he took a breath, "I don't think so…"
"Oh…" Allie sighed again, "I was just wondering, cause I have nothing to do this weekend…"
Tyler could not believe what he was hearing. There was no asking for a better set up then this, "we… could always go somewhere." he said without thinking any further.
Allie seemed to pause and study him for a moment, then her lips drew into a shallow smile, "tell Jessica and Seth to meet us?"
"No… I mean, they don't have to come… unless you want them to."
"Oh," Allie's eyes found the sidewalk again.
Great, real smooth Ty…
Allie looked back up after several moments of deliberation with a playful glint in her eyes, "sounds fun, have any place in mind?"
Tyler let out a silent sigh of relief, but it was short lived. He had no idea where to go. They had already been to most of the cool places with Jesse and Seth; this had to be something new.
"No, not at the moment…" he said with an air of resignation in his voice.
"Don't worry about it, it's no big deal… unless…"
"Oh, no…" Tyler stumbled over his words, "it's not a 'date'… unless…"
Allie's smile was a mile wide, she said, "You can call it that if you want to."
"Really?" Tyler asked breathlessly.
Allie shook her head side to side, "I don't mind."
"So, it's a date then?"
Allie laughed, "yeah, why not?"
Why not? She thought, it's going to happen anyway. I have plenty of time to go on my first date… wow, my first date!
"Cool…" Tyler was excited but he tried to act calm, he cast a quick look toward his house just a little ways down the street. "I should go, my mom will be home soon."
"I should go too."
"I'll talk to you later," Tyler said, "with the details…"
Allie watched Tyler jog across the street and the short distance to his house. Then she turned and started off toward her house.
My first date… she thought, and I have no idea what to do. The time since her arrival back on earth had only served to prove to her that she missed some of the most important socially formative years of her life. She was just picking these things up from what little she knew before and the way others talked and acted. But a date? Surely there was some special protocol. It couldn't be as simple as 'going out' to some place.
Allie knew now that it was time to have that delayed Q and A session with her mother. She needed to learn what she missed and she needed it fast.
A horrendous metal tearing crash in the distance behind her stopped Allie cold.
She spun back toward Tyler's house to see a white van slide out of the driveway with its tires squealing and pieces of twisted metal garage door falling off of it.
All at once a horrible sense of foreboding rushed over her. Allie had seen those vans before. Instincts took over, Allie ran back toward the scene before she even confirmed that it was Tyler's house. The people that had already come out of their houses to gawk at the source of the noise were the only thing keeping Allie from using her abilities to get there faster.
She stopped when she reached Tyler's driveway. Pieces of the garage door both large and small littered the ground, a conformation she didn't need. Allie made her way past the debris up to the front porch, knocked on the door…
It was hanging open, and opened further when she knocked. Allie placed one foot tentatively on the hardwood floor inside and called out: "hello?" No answer.
She pushed the door the rest of the way to reveal a disorganized mess of broken furniture and strewn papers. Her heart sank and her whole body felt numb. The clear signs of a struggle were everywhere. It was becoming clear what was happening.
The white van… it could be a coincidence but Allie was already convinced that she knew who was responsible for this, and why.
A slight noise from the hall snapped Allie to attention. She took a shaky breath to try to calm her pounding heart, and the boiling heat of anger building within her.
"Hello?" she called again as she moved closer. The noise came again, like the scurrying of feet on the wood floor. "Is someone here? I wont hurt you." unless your Keith Sheppard.
A small hand, followed by a head of curly black hair peaked around the wall, Allie recognized the boy immediately.
"Jamie!" Allie took a step toward the boy, causing him to jump back, "no, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."
The boy's eyes glazed over and he ran toward Allie, almost knocking her over as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He started crying.
"What happened here?" Allie asked, more for the boy's sake then for her own knowledge, it was painfully obvious what had happened.
"They took him…" Jamie said.
"Who took him?" Allie asked.
Jamie backed away, "there were three men in black… they came in here…"
"You hid from them?"
"Yes…" Jamie said. His whole body was visibly shaking; Allie drew him back close to her.
"Did you hear anything they said?" she asked.
"One of them--talked to someone named Sheppard--on his phone thing." the boy managed in between sobs.
That's all I needed to hear, Allie thought. The heat of the anger was starting to show on her face. Allie stood up stiffly and took firm hold of Jamie's hand.
"Do you want to come with me?" she looked down at Jamie, he nodded before even thinking.
"Where?" he asked.
"I know where your brother is."
Jamie nodded absently.
"I need you to stay calm, what's about to happen might seem scary."
"What's about to happen…" Jamie cut it off as a warm presence started flowing around them both; several seconds later a brilliant flash of pure white energy enveloped them.